Systems and methods for providing augmented reality overlays

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media can identify a first user depicted in image content captured by a second user. It is determined that the first user should be obscured in the image content based on privacy settings. The image content is modified to obscure the first user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 62/441,091, filed on Dec. 30, 2016 and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODSFOR PROVIDING AUGMENTED REALITY OVERLAYS”, which is incorporated in itsentirety herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present technology relates to the field of augmented reality. Moreparticularly, the present technology relates to systems and methods forproviding augmented reality overlays.

BACKGROUND

Today, people often utilize computing devices (or systems) for a widevariety of purposes. Users can use their computing devices, for example,to interact with one another, create content, share content, and viewcontent. In some cases, a user can utilize his or her computing deviceto access a social networking system (or service). The user can provide,post, share, and access various content items, such as status updates,images, videos, articles, and links, via the social networking system.

Social networking systems may have access to significant amounts ofdata. For example, a social networking system may have access to dataabout users on the social networking system, content posted to thesocial networking system, and user interactions with content posted tothe social networking system. User experience associated with a socialnetworking system can be enhanced using data available to the socialnetworking system. When knowledge of users, content, and userinteractions on the social networking system is gained, features,services, and other tools offered through the social networking systemcan be optimized to increase user interest in and engagement with thesocial networking system.

SUMMARY

Various embodiments of the present disclosure can include systems,methods, and non-transitory computer readable media configured toidentify one or more objects depicted in a camera view of a cameraapplication displayed on a display of a user device. An augmentedreality overlay is determined based on the one or more objectsidentified in the camera view. The camera view is modified based on theaugmented reality overlay.

In an embodiment, the one or more objects depicted in the camera vieware identified based on machine learning techniques.

In an embodiment, user location information associated with the userdevice is received. The one or more objects depicted in the camera vieware identified based on the user location information.

In an embodiment, one or more machine learning models associated withthe user location information are downloaded to the user device. The oneor more objects depicted in the camera view are identified based on theone or more machine learning models.

In an embodiment, the augmented reality overlay comprises contextinformation associated with an object of the one or more objectsdepicted in the camera view.

In an embodiment, the context information comprises social networkingsystem information associated with the object.

In an embodiment, the social networking system information comprises oneor more content items associated with the object posted by users of asocial networking system.

In an embodiment, the augmented reality overlay comprises an interactiveaugmented reality object that appears to interact with an object of theone or more objects depicted in the camera view.

In an embodiment, the interactive augmented reality object is selectedbased on an association with the object.

In an embodiment, the determining the augmented reality overlaycomprises presenting a plurality of augmented reality overlays to auser, and receiving a selection of an augmented reality overlay from theplurality of augmented reality overlays.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure can include systems,methods, and non-transitory computer readable media configured toidentify a first user depicted in image content captured by a seconduser. It is determined that the first user should be obscured in theimage content based on privacy settings. The image content is modifiedto obscure the first user.

In an embodiment, the image content comprises a camera view of a cameraapplication on a user device.

In an embodiment, the image content comprises an image or a video beinguploaded to a social networking system by the second user.

In an embodiment, the first user is identified based on automated facialrecognition techniques.

In an embodiment, the privacy settings comprise privacy settingsassociated with the first user on a social networking system.

In an embodiment, the privacy settings associated with the first user nothe social networking system comprise a social graph requirement.

In an embodiment, the determining that the first user should be obscuredcomprises determining that the second user is not a connection or aconnection of a connection of the first user on the social networkingsystem.

In an embodiment, the privacy settings comprise privacy settingsassociated with the second user on a social networking system.

In an embodiment, the determining that the first user should be obscuredcomprises determining that the first user is not a connection or aconnection of a connection of the second user on the social networkingsystem.

In an embodiment, the privacy settings comprise a location-based privacysetting, and the determination that the first user should be obscured ismade based on location information associated with the image content.

It should be appreciated that many other features, applications,embodiments, and/or variations of the disclosed technology will beapparent from the accompanying drawings and from the following detaileddescription. Additional and/or alternative implementations of thestructures, systems, non-transitory computer readable media, and methodsdescribed herein can be employed without departing from the principlesof the disclosed technology.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system including an augmented realityoverlay module, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example object-based augmented reality overlaymodule, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example privacy protection augmented realityoverlay module, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example method associated with providing anaugmented reality overlay based on object recognition, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method associated with obscuring a user inimage content based on privacy settings, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a network diagram of an example system including anexample social networking system that can be utilized in variousscenarios, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a computer system or computing devicethat can be utilized in various scenarios, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

The figures depict various embodiments of the disclosed technology forpurposes of illustration only, wherein the figures use like referencenumerals to identify like elements. One skilled in the art will readilyrecognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments ofthe structures and methods illustrated in the figures can be employedwithout departing from the principles of the disclosed technologydescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Approaches for Providing Augmented Reality Overlays

Today, people often utilize computing devices (or systems) for a widevariety of purposes. Users can use their computing devices, for example,to interact with one another, create content, share content, and viewcontent. In some cases, a user can utilize his or her computing deviceto access a social networking system (or service). The user can provide,post, share, and access various content items, such as status updates,images, videos, articles, and links, via the social networking system.

Social networking systems may have access to significant amounts ofdata. For example, a social networking system may have access to dataabout users on the social networking system, content posted to thesocial networking system, and user interactions with content posted tothe social networking system. User experience associated with a socialnetworking system can be enhanced using data available to the socialnetworking system. When knowledge of users, content, and userinteraction on the social networking system is gained, features,services, and other tools offered through the social networking systemcan be optimized to increase user interest in and engagement with thesocial networking system.

It continues to be an important interest for a social networking systemto provide users with tools to easily create and share interesting, highquality content to the social networking system. Such tools can lead togreater numbers of interesting content posts on the social networkingsystem. Greater numbers of interesting content posts lead to greaterengagement and interaction on the social networking system. However, itcan be difficult to provide users with such tools. For example, incertain conventional approaches, tools provided with the intent offacilitating creation of interesting content may be unintuitive anddifficult to use. Furthermore, conventional approaches generally fail toprovide users with opportunities and reminders to engage with the socialnetworking system, and create interesting content for the socialnetworking system, while simultaneously engaging with real-worldexperiences and surroundings. It can also be a challenge, in certaincircumstances, to encourage greater content generation by users whileprotecting privacy interests of other users on the social networkingsystem.

An improved approach rooted in computer technology overcomes theforegoing and other disadvantages associated with conventionalapproaches specifically arising in the realm of computer technology. Insome embodiments, users may be provided with augmented reality overlayswhich modify a camera view presented to a user in a camera application.When a user opens a camera application on his or her computing device,such as a mobile device, the user can be presented with a camera view ofimage data that is currently being captured by a camera (e.g., a camerabuilt into the user's mobile device). As the user moves his or hercamera around, the camera view can be updated to reflect what is beingcaptured by the camera. Throughout the present disclosure, the term“capturing” image data can be understood to include both transientpresentation of image data through a camera view (e.g., display ofsurroundings through a viewfinder of a camera without any permanent orsemi-permanent recordation of image data associated with thesurroundings) as well as permanent or semi-permanent recording of imagedata presented through a camera view (e.g., recording a video, or takinga photo). In various embodiments, an augmented reality overlay can beimposed on the camera view to modify the camera view being presented tothe user. For example, in certain embodiments, an augmented realityoverlay can present information about objects depicted in the cameraview. In another example, in various embodiments, an augmented realityoverlay can be used to implement various privacy protection features,such as blurring and/or otherwise obscuring people depicted in thecamera view. The augmented reality overlay can be used, for example, toprovide the user with additional information about a user's surroundingarea. In another example, a user can capture content (e.g., imagesand/or video) in which the images captured by the user's camera aremodified by the augmented reality overlay. These concepts will bedescribed in greater detail herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system 100 including an example augmentedreality overlay module 102, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. The augmented reality overlay module 102 can be configuredto provide one or more augmented reality overlays to modify imagecontent captured by a camera. Image content can include, for example, acamera view presented within a camera application and/or images orvideos. For example, a user may use a camera on the user's mobile deviceto capture images and/or videos. As the user moves the camera around,the image data being captured by the camera can be presented to the userin a camera view, for example, on a display of the user's mobile device.Augmented reality overlays can be applied to the camera view to modifythe camera view.

In certain embodiments, one or more augmented reality overlays may beprovided to a user based on objects detected in the camera view. Forexample, if a user's camera view depicts the Golden Gate Bridge, objectdetection or recognition techniques can be utilized to identify theGolden Gate Bridge, and to recommend one or more augmented realityoverlays based on the identified object(s). In the example of the GoldenGate Bridge, an augmented reality overlay can be recommended to a userwhich can include, in one instance, a post-card-style frame that isimposed on the camera view that reads “Hello from the Golden GateBridge!” In another example, an augmented reality overlay may includehistorical information about the Golden Gate Bridge presented next tothe Golden Gate Bridge within the camera view. The user can then recordan image and/or a video which includes the augmented reality overlay.

In various embodiments, the augmented reality overlay module 102 can beconfigured to provide one or more augmented reality overlays to protectuser privacy. Certain people may not wish to be captured in other users'images or videos. User privacy can be protected by implementingaugmented reality overlays that obscure users that are captured in otherusers' image content (e.g., camera views, images, videos). In variousembodiments, one or more augmented reality overlays can be providedbased on user privacy settings. For example, a user can be given theability to define privacy settings (e.g., by modifying privacy settingson the user's account on a social networking system). The user's privacysettings can be used to selectively obscure the user's face in otherusers' image content. For example, facial recognition techniques can beutilized to detect that a first user is present in a second user'scamera view, image, and/or video. An augmented reality overlay can begenerated to selectively obscure the first user's face based on thefirst user's privacy settings. In certain embodiments, privacy settingscan include a social graph requirement. For example, the first user mayhave specified in his or her privacy settings that he or she only wishesto appear in other users' image content if the other user is aconnection (e.g., a friend), or a connection of a connection (e.g., afriend of a friend), on a social networking system. If the second useris connected to the first user on a social networking system (e.g., afriend of the first user, a friend of a friend of the first user), thefirst user's face may remain unobscured. However, if the second userdoes not satisfy the social graph requirement in the first user'sprivacy settings, an augmented reality overlay may be provided whichobscures the first user's face and other identifying characteristics inthe second user's camera view, and/or in any images or videos capturedby the second user.

As shown in the example of FIG. 1, the augmented reality overlay module102 can include an object-based augmented reality overlay module 104 anda privacy protection augmented reality overlay module 106. In someinstances, the example system 100 can include at least one data store110. The components (e.g., modules, elements, etc.) shown in this figureand all figures herein are exemplary only, and other implementations mayinclude additional, fewer, integrated, or different components. Somecomponents may not be shown so as not to obscure relevant details.

In some embodiments, the augmented reality overlay module 102 can beimplemented, in part or in whole, as software, hardware, or anycombination thereof. In general, a module as discussed herein can beassociated with software, hardware, or any combination thereof. In someimplementations, one or more functions, tasks, and/or operations ofmodules can be carried out or performed by software routines, softwareprocesses, hardware, and/or any combination thereof. In some cases, theaugmented reality overlay module 102 can be implemented, in part or inwhole, as software running on one or more computing devices or systems,such as on a user or client computing device. In one example, theaugmented reality overlay module 102 or at least a portion thereof canbe implemented as or within an application (e.g., app), a program, or anapplet, etc., running on a user computing device or a client computingsystem, such as the user device 610 of FIG. 6. In another example, theaugmented reality overlay module 102 or at least a portion thereof canbe implemented using one or more computing devices or systems thatinclude one or more servers, such as network servers or cloud servers.In some instances, the augmented reality overlay module 102 can, in partor in whole, be implemented within or configured to operate inconjunction with a social networking system (or service), such as thesocial networking system 630 of FIG. 6.

The augmented reality overlay module 102 can be configured tocommunicate and/or operate with the at least one data store 110, asshown in the example system 100. The at least one data store 110 can beconfigured to store and maintain various types of data. For example, thedata store 110 can store information describing various content that hasbeen posted by users of a social networking system. In someimplementations, the at least one data store 110 can store informationassociated with the social networking system (e.g., the socialnetworking system 630 of FIG. 6). The information associated with thesocial networking system can include data about users, socialconnections, social interactions, locations, geo-fenced areas, maps,places, events, pages, groups, posts, communications, content, feeds,account settings, privacy settings, a social graph, and various othertypes of data. In some embodiments, the data store 110 can storeinformation that is utilized by the augmented reality overlay module102. For example, the data store 110 can store one or more augmentedreality overlays, one or more object recognition machine learningmodels, one or more facial recognition models, user privacy settings,and the like. It is contemplated that there can be many variations orother possibilities.

The object-based augmented reality overlay module 104 can be configuredto provide one or more augmented reality overlays based on objectsdetected in a user's camera view. In certain embodiments, objectsdepicted in a user's camera view can be detected using automated objectrecognition techniques. For example, one or more machine learning modelscan be trained to identify objects depicted in a user's camera view. Incertain embodiments, user location information can be utilized to assistin determining what objects are being depicted in a user's camera view.For example, if a user is located in a particular location, objects thatare specific to other locations (e.g., landmarks that are far away fromthe user's current location) can be removed from consideration. One ormore augmented reality overlays can be determined based on objectsdetected in a user's camera view and provided to a user for potentialselection and application. For example, augmented reality overlays canbe provided which present additional information about objects depictedin the user's camera view. In another example, augmented realityoverlays can include interactive augmented reality objects that appearto interact with objects depicted in the user's camera view. In certainembodiments, augmented reality overlays can be presented based on socialnetworking system information, such as information about a user'sfriends on the social networking system or content posted by the user'sfriends on the social networking system. If multiple augmented realityoverlays are identified based on objects depicted in a camera view, auser can select one to be applied to his or her camera view. The usercan capture images and/or video which include the augmented realityoverlay applied to the camera view. The object-based augmented realityoverlay module 104 will be described in greater detail herein.

The privacy protection augmented reality overlay module 106 can beconfigured to provide one or more augmented reality overlays whichobscure one or more users detected in image content. The privacyprotection augmented reality overlay module 106 can provide one or moreaugmented reality overlays which obscure one or more users based onprivacy settings. The privacy settings can be privacy settingsassociated with a capturing user (i.e., the user viewing a camera viewwithin a camera application and/or capturing images or video) and/or adepicted user (i.e., a user that is being depicted in the capturinguser's camera view, image, and/or video). Automated facial recognitiontechniques can be used to identify users depicted in image content. Thecapturing user's privacy settings and/or any depicted users' privacysettings can automatically be applied by applying an augmented realityoverlay in which one or more depicted users' faces or other identifyingphysical characteristics are obscured based on privacy settings. Forexample, if a first user has specified in his or her privacy settingsthat he or she would only like to appear in his or her friends' imagecontent, the first user's face can be obscured any time he or she isidentified as being depicted in another user's image content if theother user is not a friend of the first user on a social networkingsystem. The privacy protection augmented reality overlay module 106 willbe described in greater detail herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates an object-based augmented reality overlay module 202,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In someembodiments, the object-based augmented reality overlay module 104 ofFIG. 1 can be implemented as the object-based augmented reality overlaymodule 202. As shown in the example of FIG. 2, the object-basedaugmented reality overlay module 202 can include an object recognitionmodule 204 and an object-based camera view modification module 206.

The object recognition module 204 can be configured to recognize one ormore objects depicted in a user's camera view. In various embodiments,machine learning techniques can be utilized to automatically recognizeobjects depicted in a user's camera view. It can be appreciated that inorder to provide a user with an augmented reality overlay on the user'scamera view, objects may need to be detected relatively quickly (e.g.,in real time or near real time). Various features can be implemented tofacilitate efficient and timely automated object recognition. In certainembodiments, location information associated with a capturing user canbe used to narrow a corpus of objects potentially depicted in the user'scamera view. In other words, certain objects can be eliminated fromconsideration based on location information. For example, if a user iscurrently located in San Francisco, it is at least highly unlikely thatthe user's camera view includes the Empire State Building. User locationinformation can be obtained in a variety of ways, including, forexample, GPS information for a user's mobile device, Bluetooth beacons,near-field communications devices, and/or other devices that cancommunicate with a user's mobile device to determine user location basedon proximity, and the like.

In certain embodiments, a plurality of machine learning models can betrained, where each machine learning model is associated with aparticular geographic region such that each machine learning model istrained to identify objects associated with the particular geographicregion. Geographic regions may be specified in varying levels ofgranularity. For example, a machine learning model associated with aparticular building may be trained to identify objects within thatbuilding (e.g., a machine learning model associated with a particularart museum can be trained to identify pieces contained in the artmuseum). Another machine learning model associated with a particularcity may be trained to identify landmarks within that city. Based on auser's location information, various machine learning models can bedownloaded to the user's mobile device such that object recognition canbe performed locally on the user's mobile device using the downloadedmachine learning models. For example, if a user is detected as being inthe city of San Francisco, one or more machine learning modelsassociated with San Francisco can be downloaded to the user's mobiledevice. These machine learning models can include a machine learningmodel associated with San Francisco, a machine learning model associatedwith Northern California, a machine learning model associated with aparticular building in San Francisco that a user has entered, etc. Asthe user's location changes, machine learning models associated withprevious location information can be removed and replaced with machinelearning models associated with the user's current location.

The object-based camera view modification module 206 can be configuredto provide one or more augmented reality overlays based on objectsdetected in the user's camera view for modification of the user's cameraview. Augmented reality overlays can take various forms and providevarious types of effects and/or modifications. For example, in oneembodiment, an augmented reality overlay can be as simple as a framearound the camera view based on the user's location and/or one or moreobjects depicted in the user's camera view. For example, if it isdetected that the user is at the Golden Gate Bridge, and/or the GoldenGate Bridge is depicted in the user's camera view, a frame resembling apost-card can be applied to the user's camera view with the words “Hellofrom the Golden Gate Bridge!” In certain embodiments, augmented realityoverlays can present a two-dimensional effect (e.g., a post-card styleframe). In certain embodiments, augmented reality overlays can present athree-dimensional effect (e.g., a creature moving through/interactingwith buildings in a skyline).

In another example, an augmented reality overlay can provide contextinformation about one or more objects depicted in a user's camera view.For example, if a user is standing on a cliff overlooking a city, theuser can scan his or her camera to bring various landmarks into and outof the camera view. As a landmark enters the camera view, informationabout the landmark can be presented in the user's camera view. Contextinformation can also include social networking system information. Forexample, if a landmark comes into a user's camera view, the user can bepresented with other social networking system users that have checked-inat the landmark (e.g., the user's friends on the social networkingsystem). In another example, social networking system information caninclude images and/or videos captured by other users on the socialnetworking system (e.g., the user's friends on the social networkingsystem) that include the landmark. It may be overwhelming to bepresented with context information for each and every object detected ina user's camera view. As such, in certain embodiments, contextinformation may remain hidden for one or more objects in a user's cameraview, and can be presented upon performance of a particular gesture bythe user applied to an interface presenting the camera view. Forexample, if a user taps on an object, or circles an object with his orher finger on a touchscreen display, context information for that objectmay be displayed. The user can then perform another gesture to hide thecontext information.

In certain embodiments, an augmented reality overlay can include one ormore interactive augmented reality objects which interact with one ormore objects depicted in a camera view. Such objects can be animationspresenting video, audio, or both. For example, if a skyline is detectedin a camera view, an augmented reality overlay in the form of ananimation can be presented which makes it appear as if a large creatureis rampaging through the city skyline. Augmented reality overlays can beselected based on types of objects depicted in a camera view. Forexample, any skyline may result in recommendation and/or inclusion of anaugmented reality overlay of a generic monster rampaging through theskyline. Augmented reality overlays may also be selected based onspecific objects identified in a camera view, e.g., a specific landmark.For example, if the Empire State Building is depicted, an augmentedreality overlay including King Kong climbing the Empire State Buildingmay be presented to a user for potential selection, whereas if the TokyoTower is depicted, an augmented reality overlay including Godzillaclimbing the Tokyo Tower can be presented to the user for potentialselection. While some examples have been provided, interactive augmentedreality objects which interact with one or more objects depicted in acamera view can be presented in any form, theme, manner, or style.

When an augmented reality overlay is applied to a user's camera view,the user can capture images and/or videos of the user's surroundings orenvironment that include the augmented reality overlay. In certainembodiments, users can also publish live broadcasts (for example, to asocial networking system) that include one or more augmented realityoverlays applied to the live broadcast. If there are multiple augmentedreality overlays identified as available (e.g., multiple augmentedreality overlays are identified based on objects detected in the cameraview), a user can be presented with the overlays and prompted to selectone to apply to the user's camera view.

Various examples have been provided in which image data is captured by acamera on a user's mobile device. However, it should be appreciated thatimage data presented in a camera view can be captured by any camera. Forexample, in various embodiments, a camera on a drone can be used tocapture image data. The image data can be relayed back to a user'smobile device or other display device for presentation in a camera view.The camera view can be modified using one or more augmented realityoverlays, as described herein.

FIG. 3 illustrates a privacy protection augmented reality overlay module302, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In someembodiments, the privacy protection augmented reality overlay module 106of FIG. 1 can be implemented as the privacy protection augmented realityoverlay module 302. As shown in the example of FIG. 3, the privacyprotection augmented reality overlay module 302 can include a useridentification module 304 and a privacy-based image content modificationmodule 306.

The user identification module 304 can be configured to identify one ormore users depicted in image content captured by a capturing user. Imagecontent can include, for example, a camera view presented in a cameraapplication on the capturing user's device, an image captured by theuser, and/or a video captured by the user. Automated facial recognitiontechniques can be used to identify users depicted in image content.

The privacy-based image content modification module 306 can beconfigured to modify image content based on privacy settings. Forexample, image content can be modified by obscuring (or concealing,anonymizing, etc.) one or more users, or their identities, based onprivacy settings. A user can be obscured by blurring the user's face orplacing a mask or a sticker over the user's face, concealing otherphysical features associated with the user, to name a few examples. Incertain embodiments, image content can be modified by applying anaugmented reality overlay to the image content. Privacy settings caninclude privacy settings of a capturing user (i.e., a user capturingimage content) and/or the privacy settings of a depicted user (i.e., auser that is depicted in image content). In certain embodiments, privacysettings can include social graph requirements. Social graphrequirements may specify a threshold number of degrees of separation ona social networking system. For example, a capturing user may wish todepict only users that are friends of the capturing user on the socialnetworking system. Similarly, a depicted user may wish to be included inimage content captured by either the depicted user's friends or friendsof the depicted user's friends on the social networking system, but notin image content captured by other users. When a first user capturesimage content which depicts a second user, the second user can beidentified using, for example, automated facial recognition. Privacysettings associated with the second user can be analyzed and applied.For example, if the second user has specified that he or she would onlylike to be included in image content captured by friends of the seconduser on the social networking system, a social graph of the second usercan be analyzed to determine whether or not the first user is a friendof the second user on the social networking system. If the first user isa friend, the second user is not obscured in the image content. However,if the first user is not a friend of the second user, the second user isobscured.

In certain embodiments, privacy settings can include location-specificand/or event-specific privacy settings. For example, if a user wishes toattend an event, he or she may be required to accept the event's privacysettings, which may require, for example, that all users accept thatthey may be shown in images or videos taken at the event. In anotherexample, a particular user may specify that he or she is willing to beshown in any image content captured at a particular location, regardlessof whether or not the capturing user is connected to the user on asocial networking system. Conversely, the user may also specify that heor she would not like to be shown in any image content captured at asecond location, regardless of whether or not the capturing user isconnected to the user on the social networking system.

In certain embodiments, obscuring of a user can occur in real-time (ornear real-time) as image content is being captured. For example, when acapturing user is viewing a camera view on a camera application, usersin the camera view can be identified in real-time, and the determinationas to whether or not to obscure each user can occur in real-time. Thecamera view can be modified using an augmented reality overlay thatobscures users within the camera view.

In certain embodiments, obscuring of a user can occur after imagecontent has been captured. For example, if a capturing user captures animage in which other users are depicted, the image can be analyzed forprivacy settings when the capturing user attempts to upload the image toa social networking system. When the user attempts to upload the image,the image can be analyzed to identify all users in the image. One ormore of the users depicted in the image can be obscured based on privacysettings for all depicted users and/or the capturing user.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example method 400 associated with modifying acamera view with an augmented reality overlay based on objectsidentified in the camera view, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. It should be appreciated that there can be additional,fewer, or alternative steps performed in similar or alternative orders,or in parallel, within the scope of the various embodiments discussedherein unless otherwise stated.

At block 402, the example method 400 can identify one or more objectsdepicted in a camera view of a camera application displayed on a displayof a user device. At block 404, the example method 400 can determine anaugmented reality overlay based on the one or more objects identified inthe camera view. At block 406, the example method 400 can modify thecamera view based on the augmented reality overlay.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method 500 associated with obscuring afirst user depicted in image content based on privacy settings,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. It should beappreciated that there can be additional, fewer, or alternative stepsperformed in similar or alternative orders, or in parallel, within thescope of the various embodiments discussed herein unless otherwisestated.

At block 502, the example method 500 can identify a first user depictedin image content captured by a second user. At block 504, the examplemethod 500 can determine that the first user should be obscured in theimage content based on privacy settings. At block 506, the examplemethod 500 can modify the image content to obscure the first user.

It is contemplated that there can be many other uses, applications,and/or variations associated with the various embodiments of the presentdisclosure. For example, in some cases, user can choose whether or notto opt-in to utilize the disclosed technology. The disclosed technologycan also ensure that various privacy settings and preferences aremaintained and can prevent private information from being divulged. Inanother example, various embodiments of the present disclosure canlearn, improve, and/or be refined over time.

Social Networking System—Example Implementation

FIG. 6 illustrates a network diagram of an example system 600 that canbe utilized in various scenarios, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. The system 600 includes one or more user devices610, one or more external systems 620, a social networking system (orservice) 630, and a network 650. In an embodiment, the social networkingservice, provider, and/or system discussed in connection with theembodiments described above may be implemented as the social networkingsystem 630. For purposes of illustration, the embodiment of the system600, shown by FIG. 6, includes a single external system 620 and a singleuser device 610. However, in other embodiments, the system 600 mayinclude more user devices 610 and/or more external systems 620. Incertain embodiments, the social networking system 630 is operated by asocial network provider, whereas the external systems 620 are separatefrom the social networking system 630 in that they may be operated bydifferent entities. In various embodiments, however, the socialnetworking system 630 and the external systems 620 operate inconjunction to provide social networking services to users (or members)of the social networking system 630. In this sense, the socialnetworking system 630 provides a platform or backbone, which othersystems, such as external systems 620, may use to provide socialnetworking services and functionalities to users across the Internet.

The user device 610 comprises one or more computing devices that canreceive input from a user and transmit and receive data via the network650. In one embodiment, the user device 610 is a conventional computersystem executing, for example, a Microsoft Windows compatible operatingsystem (OS), Apple OS X, and/or a Linux distribution. In anotherembodiment, the user device 610 can be a device having computerfunctionality, such as a smart-phone, a tablet, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, etc. The user device 610 isconfigured to communicate via the network 650. The user device 610 canexecute an application, for example, a browser application that allows auser of the user device 610 to interact with the social networkingsystem 630. In another embodiment, the user device 610 interacts withthe social networking system 630 through an application programminginterface (API) provided by the native operating system of the userdevice 610, such as iOS and ANDROID. The user device 610 is configuredto communicate with the external system 620 and the social networkingsystem 630 via the network 650, which may comprise any combination oflocal area and/or wide area networks, using wired and/or wirelesscommunication systems.

In one embodiment, the network 650 uses standard communicationstechnologies and protocols. Thus, the network 650 can include linksusing technologies such as Ethernet, 802.11, worldwide interoperabilityfor microwave access (WiMAX), 3G, 4G, CDMA, GSM, LTE, digital subscriberline (DSL), etc. Similarly, the networking protocols used on the network650 can include multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), transmissioncontrol protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), User Datagram Protocol(UDP), hypertext transport protocol (HTTP), simple mail transferprotocol (SMTP), file transfer protocol (FTP), and the like. The dataexchanged over the network 650 can be represented using technologiesand/or formats including hypertext markup language (HTML) and extensiblemarkup language (XML). In addition, all or some links can be encryptedusing conventional encryption technologies such as secure sockets layer(SSL), transport layer security (TLS), and Internet Protocol security(IPsec).

In one embodiment, the user device 610 may display content from theexternal system 620 and/or from the social networking system 630 byprocessing a markup language document 614 received from the externalsystem 620 and from the social networking system 630 using a browserapplication 612. The markup language document 614 identifies content andone or more instructions describing formatting or presentation of thecontent. By executing the instructions included in the markup languagedocument 614, the browser application 612 displays the identifiedcontent using the format or presentation described by the markuplanguage document 614. For example, the markup language document 614includes instructions for generating and displaying a web page havingmultiple frames that include text and/or image data retrieved from theexternal system 620 and the social networking system 630. In variousembodiments, the markup language document 614 comprises a data fileincluding extensible markup language (XML) data, extensible hypertextmarkup language (XHTML) data, or other markup language data.Additionally, the markup language document 614 may include JavaScriptObject Notation (JSON) data, JSON with padding (JSONP), and JavaScriptdata to facilitate data-interchange between the external system 620 andthe user device 610. The browser application 612 on the user device 610may use a JavaScript compiler to decode the markup language document614.

The markup language document 614 may also include, or link to,applications or application frameworks such as FLASH™ or Unity™applications, the SilverLight™ application framework, etc.

In one embodiment, the user device 610 also includes one or more cookies616 including data indicating whether a user of the user device 610 islogged into the social networking system 630, which may enablemodification of the data communicated from the social networking system630 to the user device 610.

The external system 620 includes one or more web servers that includeone or more web pages 622 a, 622 b, which are communicated to the userdevice 610 using the network 650. The external system 620 is separatefrom the social networking system 630. For example, the external system620 is associated with a first domain, while the social networkingsystem 630 is associated with a separate social networking domain. Webpages 622 a, 622 b, included in the external system 620, comprise markuplanguage documents 614 identifying content and including instructionsspecifying formatting or presentation of the identified content.

The social networking system 630 includes one or more computing devicesfor a social network, including a plurality of users, and providingusers of the social network with the ability to communicate and interactwith other users of the social network. In some instances, the socialnetwork can be represented by a graph, i.e., a data structure includingedges and nodes. Other data structures can also be used to represent thesocial network, including but not limited to databases, objects,classes, meta elements, files, or any other data structure. The socialnetworking system 630 may be administered, managed, or controlled by anoperator. The operator of the social networking system 630 may be ahuman being, an automated application, or a series of applications formanaging content, regulating policies, and collecting usage metricswithin the social networking system 630. Any type of operator may beused.

Users may join the social networking system 630 and then add connectionsto any number of other users of the social networking system 630 to whomthey desire to be connected. As used herein, the term “friend” refers toany other user of the social networking system 630 to whom a user hasformed a connection, association, or relationship via the socialnetworking system 630. For example, in an embodiment, if users in thesocial networking system 630 are represented as nodes in the socialgraph, the term “friend” can refer to an edge formed between anddirectly connecting two user nodes.

Connections may be added explicitly by a user or may be automaticallycreated by the social networking system 630 based on commoncharacteristics of the users (e.g., users who are alumni of the sameeducational institution). For example, a first user specifically selectsa particular other user to be a friend. Connections in the socialnetworking system 630 are usually in both directions, but need not be,so the terms “user” and “friend” depend on the frame of reference.Connections between users of the social networking system 630 areusually bilateral (“two-way”), or “mutual,” but connections may also beunilateral, or “one-way.” For example, if Bob and Joe are both users ofthe social networking system 630 and connected to each other, Bob andJoe are each other's connections. If, on the other hand, Bob wishes toconnect to Joe to view data communicated to the social networking system630 by Joe, but Joe does not wish to form a mutual connection, aunilateral connection may be established. The connection between usersmay be a direct connection; however, some embodiments of the socialnetworking system 630 allow the connection to be indirect via one ormore levels of connections or degrees of separation.

In addition to establishing and maintaining connections between usersand allowing interactions between users, the social networking system630 provides users with the ability to take actions on various types ofitems supported by the social networking system 630. These items mayinclude groups or networks (i.e., social networks of people, entities,and concepts) to which users of the social networking system 630 maybelong, events or calendar entries in which a user might be interested,computer-based applications that a user may use via the socialnetworking system 630, transactions that allow users to buy or sellitems via services provided by or through the social networking system630, and interactions with advertisements that a user may perform on oroff the social networking system 630. These are just a few examples ofthe items upon which a user may act on the social networking system 630,and many others are possible. A user may interact with anything that iscapable of being represented in the social networking system 630 or inthe external system 620, separate from the social networking system 630,or coupled to the social networking system 630 via the network 650.

The social networking system 630 is also capable of linking a variety ofentities. For example, the social networking system 630 enables users tointeract with each other as well as external systems 620 or otherentities through an API, a web service, or other communication channels.The social networking system 630 generates and maintains the “socialgraph” comprising a plurality of nodes interconnected by a plurality ofedges. Each node in the social graph may represent an entity that canact on another node and/or that can be acted on by another node. Thesocial graph may include various types of nodes. Examples of types ofnodes include users, non-person entities, content items, web pages,groups, activities, messages, concepts, and any other things that can berepresented by an object in the social networking system 630. An edgebetween two nodes in the social graph may represent a particular kind ofconnection, or association, between the two nodes, which may result fromnode relationships or from an action that was performed by one of thenodes on the other node. In some cases, the edges between nodes can beweighted. The weight of an edge can represent an attribute associatedwith the edge, such as a strength of the connection or associationbetween nodes. Different types of edges can be provided with differentweights. For example, an edge created when one user “likes” another usermay be given one weight, while an edge created when a user befriendsanother user may be given a different weight.

As an example, when a first user identifies a second user as a friend,an edge in the social graph is generated connecting a node representingthe first user and a second node representing the second user. Asvarious nodes relate or interact with each other, the social networkingsystem 630 modifies edges connecting the various nodes to reflect therelationships and interactions.

The social networking system 630 also includes user-generated content,which enhances a user's interactions with the social networking system630. User-generated content may include anything a user can add, upload,send, or “post” to the social networking system 630. For example, a usercommunicates posts to the social networking system 630 from a userdevice 610. Posts may include data such as status updates or othertextual data, location information, images such as photos, videos,links, music or other similar data and/or media. Content may also beadded to the social networking system 630 by a third party. Content“items” are represented as objects in the social networking system 630.In this way, users of the social networking system 630 are encouraged tocommunicate with each other by posting text and content items of varioustypes of media through various communication channels. Suchcommunication increases the interaction of users with each other andincreases the frequency with which users interact with the socialnetworking system 630.

The social networking system 630 includes a web server 632, an APIrequest server 634, a user profile store 636, a connection store 638, anaction logger 640, an activity log 642, and an authorization server 644.In an embodiment of the invention, the social networking system 630 mayinclude additional, fewer, or different components for variousapplications. Other components, such as network interfaces, securitymechanisms, load balancers, failover servers, management and networkoperations consoles, and the like are not shown so as to not obscure thedetails of the system.

The user profile store 636 maintains information about user accounts,including biographic, demographic, and other types of descriptiveinformation, such as work experience, educational history, hobbies orpreferences, location, and the like that has been declared by users orinferred by the social networking system 630. This information is storedin the user profile store 636 such that each user is uniquelyidentified. The social networking system 630 also stores data describingone or more connections between different users in the connection store638. The connection information may indicate users who have similar orcommon work experience, group memberships, hobbies, or educationalhistory. Additionally, the social networking system 630 includesuser-defined connections between different users, allowing users tospecify their relationships with other users. For example, user-definedconnections allow users to generate relationships with other users thatparallel the users' real-life relationships, such as friends,co-workers, partners, and so forth. Users may select from predefinedtypes of connections, or define their own connection types as needed.Connections with other nodes in the social networking system 630, suchas non-person entities, buckets, cluster centers, images, interests,pages, external systems, concepts, and the like are also stored in theconnection store 638.

The social networking system 630 maintains data about objects with whicha user may interact. To maintain this data, the user profile store 636and the connection store 638 store instances of the corresponding typeof objects maintained by the social networking system 630. Each objecttype has information fields that are suitable for storing informationappropriate to the type of object. For example, the user profile store636 contains data structures with fields suitable for describing auser's account and information related to a user's account. When a newobject of a particular type is created, the social networking system 630initializes a new data structure of the corresponding type, assigns aunique object identifier to it, and begins to add data to the object asneeded. This might occur, for example, when a user becomes a user of thesocial networking system 630, the social networking system 630 generatesa new instance of a user profile in the user profile store 636, assignsa unique identifier to the user account, and begins to populate thefields of the user account with information provided by the user.

The connection store 638 includes data structures suitable fordescribing a user's connections to other users, connections to externalsystems 620 or connections to other entities. The connection store 638may also associate a connection type with a user's connections, whichmay be used in conjunction with the user's privacy setting to regulateaccess to information about the user. In an embodiment of the invention,the user profile store 636 and the connection store 638 may beimplemented as a federated database.

Data stored in the connection store 638, the user profile store 636, andthe activity log 642 enables the social networking system 630 togenerate the social graph that uses nodes to identify various objectsand edges connecting nodes to identify relationships between differentobjects. For example, if a first user establishes a connection with asecond user in the social networking system 630, user accounts of thefirst user and the second user from the user profile store 636 may actas nodes in the social graph. The connection between the first user andthe second user stored by the connection store 638 is an edge betweenthe nodes associated with the first user and the second user. Continuingthis example, the second user may then send the first user a messagewithin the social networking system 630. The action of sending themessage, which may be stored, is another edge between the two nodes inthe social graph representing the first user and the second user.Additionally, the message itself may be identified and included in thesocial graph as another node connected to the nodes representing thefirst user and the second user.

In another example, a first user may tag a second user in an image thatis maintained by the social networking system 630 (or, alternatively, inan image maintained by another system outside of the social networkingsystem 630). The image may itself be represented as a node in the socialnetworking system 630. This tagging action may create edges between thefirst user and the second user as well as create an edge between each ofthe users and the image, which is also a node in the social graph. Inyet another example, if a user confirms attending an event, the user andthe event are nodes obtained from the user profile store 636, where theattendance of the event is an edge between the nodes that may beretrieved from the activity log 642. By generating and maintaining thesocial graph, the social networking system 630 includes data describingmany different types of objects and the interactions and connectionsamong those objects, providing a rich source of socially relevantinformation.

The web server 632 links the social networking system 630 to one or moreuser devices 610 and/or one or more external systems 620 via the network650. The web server 632 serves web pages, as well as other web-relatedcontent, such as Java, JavaScript, Flash, XML, and so forth. The webserver 632 may include a mail server or other messaging functionalityfor receiving and routing messages between the social networking system630 and one or more user devices 610. The messages can be instantmessages, queued messages (e.g., email), text and SMS messages, or anyother suitable messaging format.

The API request server 634 allows one or more external systems 620 anduser devices 610 to call access information from the social networkingsystem 630 by calling one or more API functions. The API request server634 may also allow external systems 620 to send information to thesocial networking system 630 by calling APIs. The external system 620,in one embodiment, sends an API request to the social networking system630 via the network 650, and the API request server 634 receives the APIrequest. The API request server 634 processes the request by calling anAPI associated with the API request to generate an appropriate response,which the API request server 634 communicates to the external system 620via the network 650. For example, responsive to an API request, the APIrequest server 634 collects data associated with a user, such as theuser's connections that have logged into the external system 620, andcommunicates the collected data to the external system 620. In anotherembodiment, the user device 610 communicates with the social networkingsystem 630 via APIs in the same manner as external systems 620.

The action logger 640 is capable of receiving communications from theweb server 632 about user actions on and/or off the social networkingsystem 630. The action logger 640 populates the activity log 642 withinformation about user actions, enabling the social networking system630 to discover various actions taken by its users within the socialnetworking system 630 and outside of the social networking system 630.Any action that a particular user takes with respect to another node onthe social networking system 630 may be associated with each user'saccount, through information maintained in the activity log 642 or in asimilar database or other data repository. Examples of actions taken bya user within the social networking system 630 that are identified andstored may include, for example, adding a connection to another user,sending a message to another user, reading a message from another user,viewing content associated with another user, attending an event postedby another user, posting an image, attempting to post an image, or otheractions interacting with another user or another object. When a usertakes an action within the social networking system 630, the action isrecorded in the activity log 642. In one embodiment, the socialnetworking system 630 maintains the activity log 642 as a database ofentries. When an action is taken within the social networking system630, an entry for the action is added to the activity log 642. Theactivity log 642 may be referred to as an action log.

Additionally, user actions may be associated with concepts and actionsthat occur within an entity outside of the social networking system 630,such as an external system 620 that is separate from the socialnetworking system 630. For example, the action logger 640 may receivedata describing a user's interaction with an external system 620 fromthe web server 632. In this example, the external system 620 reports auser's interaction according to structured actions and objects in thesocial graph.

Other examples of actions where a user interacts with an external system620 include a user expressing an interest in an external system 620 oranother entity, a user posting a comment to the social networking system630 that discusses an external system 620 or a web page 622 a within theexternal system 620, a user posting to the social networking system 630a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or other identifier associated with anexternal system 620, a user attending an event associated with anexternal system 620, or any other action by a user that is related to anexternal system 620. Thus, the activity log 642 may include actionsdescribing interactions between a user of the social networking system630 and an external system 620 that is separate from the socialnetworking system 630.

The authorization server 644 enforces one or more privacy settings ofthe users of the social networking system 630. A privacy setting of auser determines how particular information associated with a user can beshared. The privacy setting comprises the specification of particularinformation associated with a user and the specification of the entityor entities with whom the information can be shared. Examples ofentities with which information can be shared may include other users,applications, external systems 620, or any entity that can potentiallyaccess the information. The information that can be shared by a usercomprises user account information, such as profile photos, phonenumbers associated with the user, user's connections, actions taken bythe user such as adding a connection, changing user profile information,and the like.

The privacy setting specification may be provided at different levels ofgranularity. For example, the privacy setting may identify specificinformation to be shared with other users; the privacy settingidentifies a work phone number or a specific set of related information,such as, personal information including profile photo, home phonenumber, and status. Alternatively, the privacy setting may apply to allthe information associated with the user. The specification of the setof entities that can access particular information can also be specifiedat various levels of granularity. Various sets of entities with whichinformation can be shared may include, for example, all friends of theuser, all friends of friends, all applications, or all external systems620. One embodiment allows the specification of the set of entities tocomprise an enumeration of entities. For example, the user may provide alist of external systems 620 that are allowed to access certaininformation. Another embodiment allows the specification to comprise aset of entities along with exceptions that are not allowed to access theinformation. For example, a user may allow all external systems 620 toaccess the user's work information, but specify a list of externalsystems 620 that are not allowed to access the work information. Certainembodiments call the list of exceptions that are not allowed to accesscertain information a “block list”. External systems 620 belonging to ablock list specified by a user are blocked from accessing theinformation specified in the privacy setting. Various combinations ofgranularity of specification of information, and granularity ofspecification of entities, with which information is shared arepossible. For example, all personal information may be shared withfriends whereas all work information may be shared with friends offriends.

The authorization server 644 contains logic to determine if certaininformation associated with a user can be accessed by a user's friends,external systems 620, and/or other applications and entities. Theexternal system 620 may need authorization from the authorization server644 to access the user's more private and sensitive information, such asthe user's work phone number. Based on the user's privacy settings, theauthorization server 644 determines if another user, the external system620, an application, or another entity is allowed to access informationassociated with the user, including information about actions taken bythe user.

In some embodiments, the social networking system 630 can include anaugmented reality overlay module 646. The augmented reality overlaymodule 646 can, for example, be implemented as the augmented realityoverlay module 102, as discussed in more detail herein. As discussedpreviously, it should be appreciated that there can be many variationsor other possibilities. For example, in some embodiments, one or morefunctionalities of the augmented reality overlay module 646 can beimplemented in the user device 610.

Hardware Implementation

The foregoing processes and features can be implemented by a widevariety of machine and computer system architectures and in a widevariety of network and computing environments. FIG. 7 illustrates anexample of a computer system 700 that may be used to implement one ormore of the embodiments described herein according to an embodiment ofthe invention. The computer system 700 includes sets of instructions forcausing the computer system 700 to perform the processes and featuresdiscussed herein. The computer system 700 may be connected (e.g.,networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the computersystem 700 may operate in the capacity of a server machine or a clientmachine in a client-server network environment, or as a peer machine ina peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. In an embodiment ofthe invention, the computer system 700 may be the social networkingsystem 630, the user device 610, and the external system 620, or acomponent thereof. In an embodiment of the invention, the computersystem 700 may be one server among many that constitutes all or part ofthe social networking system 630.

The computer system 700 includes a processor 702, a cache 704, and oneor more executable modules and drivers, stored on a computer-readablemedium, directed to the processes and features described herein.Additionally, the computer system 700 includes a high performanceinput/output (I/O) bus 706 and a standard I/O bus 708. A host bridge 710couples processor 702 to high performance I/O bus 706, whereas I/O busbridge 712 couples the two buses 706 and 708 to each other. A systemmemory 714 and one or more network interfaces 716 couple to highperformance I/O bus 706. The computer system 700 may further includevideo memory and a display device coupled to the video memory (notshown). Mass storage 718 and I/O ports 720 couple to the standard I/Obus 708. The computer system 700 may optionally include a keyboard andpointing device, a display device, or other input/output devices (notshown) coupled to the standard I/O bus 708. Collectively, these elementsare intended to represent a broad category of computer hardware systems,including but not limited to computer systems based on thex86-compatible processors manufactured by Intel Corporation of SantaClara, Calif., and the x86-compatible processors manufactured byAdvanced Micro Devices (AMD), Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., as well as anyother suitable processor.

An operating system manages and controls the operation of the computersystem 700, including the input and output of data to and from softwareapplications (not shown). The operating system provides an interfacebetween the software applications being executed on the system and thehardware components of the system. Any suitable operating system may beused, such as the LINUX Operating System, the Apple Macintosh OperatingSystem, available from Apple Computer Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., UNIXoperating systems, Microsoft® Windows® operating systems, BSD operatingsystems, and the like. Other implementations are possible.

The elements of the computer system 700 are described in greater detailbelow. In particular, the network interface 716 provides communicationbetween the computer system 700 and any of a wide range of networks,such as an Ethernet (e.g., IEEE 802.3) network, a backplane, etc. Themass storage 718 provides permanent storage for the data and programminginstructions to perform the above-described processes and featuresimplemented by the respective computing systems identified above,whereas the system memory 714 (e.g., DRAM) provides temporary storagefor the data and programming instructions when executed by the processor702. The I/O ports 720 may be one or more serial and/or parallelcommunication ports that provide communication between additionalperipheral devices, which may be coupled to the computer system 700.

The computer system 700 may include a variety of system architectures,and various components of the computer system 700 may be rearranged. Forexample, the cache 704 may be on-chip with processor 702. Alternatively,the cache 704 and the processor 702 may be packed together as a“processor module”, with processor 702 being referred to as the“processor core”. Furthermore, certain embodiments of the invention mayneither require nor include all of the above components. For example,peripheral devices coupled to the standard I/O bus 708 may couple to thehigh performance I/O bus 706. In addition, in some embodiments, only asingle bus may exist, with the components of the computer system 700being coupled to the single bus. Moreover, the computer system 700 mayinclude additional components, such as additional processors, storagedevices, or memories.

In general, the processes and features described herein may beimplemented as part of an operating system or a specific application,component, program, object, module, or series of instructions referredto as “programs”. For example, one or more programs may be used toexecute specific processes described herein. The programs typicallycomprise one or more instructions in various memory and storage devicesin the computer system 700 that, when read and executed by one or moreprocessors, cause the computer system 700 to perform operations toexecute the processes and features described herein. The processes andfeatures described herein may be implemented in software, firmware,hardware (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit), or anycombination thereof.

In one implementation, the processes and features described herein areimplemented as a series of executable modules run by the computer system700, individually or collectively in a distributed computingenvironment. The foregoing modules may be realized by hardware,executable modules stored on a computer-readable medium (ormachine-readable medium), or a combination of both. For example, themodules may comprise a plurality or series of instructions to beexecuted by a processor in a hardware system, such as the processor 702.Initially, the series of instructions may be stored on a storage device,such as the mass storage 718. However, the series of instructions can bestored on any suitable computer readable storage medium. Furthermore,the series of instructions need not be stored locally, and could bereceived from a remote storage device, such as a server on a network,via the network interface 716. The instructions are copied from thestorage device, such as the mass storage 718, into the system memory 714and then accessed and executed by the processor 702. In variousimplementations, a module or modules can be executed by a processor ormultiple processors in one or multiple locations, such as multipleservers in a parallel processing environment.

Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not limited to,recordable type media such as volatile and non-volatile memory devices;solid state memories; floppy and other removable disks; hard diskdrives; magnetic media; optical disks (e.g., Compact Disk Read-OnlyMemory (CD ROMS), Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs)); other similarnon-transitory (or transitory), tangible (or non-tangible) storagemedium; or any type of medium suitable for storing, encoding, orcarrying a series of instructions for execution by the computer system700 to perform any one or more of the processes and features describedherein.

For purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the description. It will beapparent, however, to one skilled in the art that embodiments of thedisclosure can be practiced without these specific details. In someinstances, modules, structures, processes, features, and devices areshown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the description.In other instances, functional block diagrams and flow diagrams areshown to represent data and logic flows. The components of blockdiagrams and flow diagrams (e.g., modules, blocks, structures, devices,features, etc.) may be variously combined, separated, removed,reordered, and replaced in a manner other than as expressly describedand depicted herein.

Reference in this specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”,“other embodiments”, “one series of embodiments”, “some embodiments”,“various embodiments”, or the like means that a particular feature,design, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. Theappearances of, for example, the phrase “in one embodiment” or “in anembodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternativeembodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, whetheror not there is express reference to an “embodiment” or the like,various features are described, which may be variously combined andincluded in some embodiments, but also variously omitted in otherembodiments. Similarly, various features are described that may bepreferences or requirements for some embodiments, but not otherembodiments.

The language used herein has been principally selected for readabilityand instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected todelineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is thereforeintended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detaileddescription, but rather by any claims that issue on an application basedhereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments of the inventionis intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of theinvention, which is set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:identifying, by a computing system, a first user depicted in imagecontent captured by a second user; determining, by the computing system,that the first user should be obscured in the image content based onprivacy settings; and modifying, by the computing system, the imagecontent to obscure the first user.
 2. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein the image content comprises a camera view of a cameraapplication on a user device.
 3. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein the image content comprises an image or a video beinguploaded to a social networking system by the second user.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first user isidentified based on automated facial recognition techniques.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the privacy settingscomprise privacy settings associated with the first user on a socialnetworking system.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5,wherein the privacy settings associated with the first user on thesocial networking system comprise a social graph requirement.
 7. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the determining that thefirst user should be obscured comprises determining that the second useris not a connection or a connection of a connection of the first user onthe social networking system.
 8. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein the privacy settings comprise privacy settingsassociated with the second user on a social networking system.
 9. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the determining that thefirst user should be obscured comprises determining that the first useris not a connection or a connection of a connection of the second useron the social networking system.
 10. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein the privacy settings comprise a location-based privacysetting, and the determination that the first user should be obscured ismade based on location information associated with the image content.11. A system comprising: at least one processor; and a memory storinginstructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, causethe system to perform a method comprising: identifying a first userdepicted in image content captured by a second user; determining thatthe first user should be obscured in the image content based on privacysettings; and modifying the image content to obscure the first user. 12.The system of claim 11, wherein the image content comprises a cameraview of a camera application on a user device.
 13. The system of claim11, wherein the image content comprises an image or a video beinguploaded to a social networking system by the second user.
 14. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the first user is identified based onautomated facial recognition techniques.
 15. The system of claim 11,wherein the privacy settings comprise privacy settings associated withthe first user on a social networking system.
 16. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium including instructions that, whenexecuted by at least one processor of a computing system, cause thecomputing system to perform a method comprising: identifying a firstuser depicted in image content captured by a second user; determiningthat the first user should be obscured in the image content based onprivacy settings; and modifying the image content to obscure the firstuser.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim16, wherein the image content comprises a camera view of a cameraapplication on a user device.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 16, wherein the image content comprises an imageor a video being uploaded to a social networking system by the seconduser.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim16, wherein the first user is identified based on automated facialrecognition techniques.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 16, wherein the privacy settings comprise privacysettings associated with the first user on a social networking system.